The idea is simple: Come up with a new plan to fairly fund New Jersey's 618 school districts.

The solution: Not so simple.

Last week, Gov. Jon Corzine unveiled his proposal for a new school aid formula, dubbed "A New Formula For Success: All Children, All Communities." The $7.8 billion plan calls for sharp increases for many middle-class suburbs and fast-growing towns.

But the complex distribution plan Corzine handed out last week softened the blow by tacking on extra state money to give all towns a minimum 2 percent increase in overall funding.

The result was a lot of confused people. Local officials, school administrators and parents were busy last week crunching the numbers and trying to figure out what it all means. Meanwhile, local blogs were filled with debates over what the new formula means-- and whether it will ultimately help or hurt New Jersey's school children.

From Eric Sedler, blogging at Red Jersey (www.redjersey.net):

I may not be good with the numbers or fully understand the deep details of Gov. Corzine's new school funding plan. I know there are absolutely no immediate cuts in any districts . . .

Why is Gov. Corzine desperately rushing this plan without giving the Legislature significant time to study it? Holiday season is now and 43 members of the Legislature will not be returning. Why not let the brand new legislature take a look at the program? Clearly they will be a lot more motivated to understand the proposal at hand and evaluate potential problems. Instead the Governor has put everyone under the gun and clearly does not want an extensive debate on the topic. It's his formula or else and it better be passed quickly.

From eCache (http://blog.ladow.net/):

Paying for public education amounts to more than one third of the New Jersey budget. The budget has more than doubled in eight years. Gov. Corzine has spoken about making the "tough decisions" to bring fiscal responsibility to New Jersey government. Furthermore, Corzine has called on state government to prepare for a 10 percent budget cut across the board to fill a $3 billion budget hole next year.

Like other promises, Corzine is not credible with his tough talk to cut spending. That is easily seen with his proposal for a new school funding formula. Remember, overhauling funding public education was the hallmark of fiscal reform that Corzine promised in July 2006. Remember his battle cry of, "Let's make history!"

Is this making history?

Corzine has decided the answer to New Jersey's budget woes is to increase state spending on public education.

From NJ Business Matters (http://www.njbusinessmatters.org/ ):

The new formula is based on better science than the existing one and is an improvement over the status quo. We finally have something that reduces funding (eventually) for schools with declining enrollment and bolsters it for towns that are growing.

For too long large cities with declining student populations continued to see funding increases because the existing model ties dollars to buildings, staffing levels and programs but not the number of children in the schoolhouse. Meanwhile, booming towns saw no increase in funding from Trenton and had to shoulder the burden through higher property taxes while subsidizing other districts. A change from that is welcome news.

However, the plan still fails to hold school districts accountable as there is no correlation between how well a school performs and how much money it receives. Without that, other improvements become less meaningful. The system is in need of fundamental reform, and without increased accountability and oversight that cannot occur.

From Kristina Chew, a mother of an autistic child, blogging at Autism Vox (www.autismvox.com):

I live in the New Jersey suburbs precisely because it's here that we've found the right kind of autism school program for Charlie. I work in Jersey City, which is an Abbott District, meaning that-- due to its socio-economic classification and other factors- it is considered a "special needs" school district, receives supplemental funding from the state and is overseen by the state.

It would be nice to live in Jersey City, much closer to my job, but it's a suburban school district that can provide the sort of education and supports that Charlie needs; I've enough of a sense of the other problems in Jersey City schools from students who have student-taught in a local high school and from a friend who teaches middle school science.

The governor is proposing a new school financing formula that could significantly alter the way the state allocates the $1 billion it annually spends on special education . . .

I'll be watching closely when the Governor unveils the new funding formula. Charlie's current program-- with highly trained teachers, aides, and therapists and autism consultants who are regularly available-- is good because it is well-funded.

Does the new formula signal that Abbott districts will be held to lower annual increases in ensuing years? And does that prospect mean that Plainfield taxpayers will ultimately have to look at funding more of the school budget?

These are questions which should rivet taxpayers.

But will such attention, if given, lead to more intense scrutiny of school matters-- especially as measured by attendance at school board meetings?